Pinewood Derby

I've always regretted our oldest son didn't have the opportunity to participate in Scouts.  When he was scouting age, he was just too busy with gymnastics and then with taekwando to join Scouts.  

Our current neighborhood has so many kids scouting age we make up our own troop, and meetings are just down the street from us; making scouting for my younger boys extremely convenient.  Wingnut Jr. absolutely loves it.  He's already been to an all day Scouts camp, bought a pocketknife (with which he promptly cut a neighborhood kid's thumb with while performing a "blood circle) and last night he participated in his first Pinewood Derby.

Wingnut had been pretty busy with work, and Wingnut Jr.'s car kit sat on the counter for over a month, but on Saturday our woodworking expert neighbor helped Wingnut Jr. cut his car and sand it. Then Monday, Wingnut and the boy built, painted, and weighted the car.  Nothing like 11th hour projects, no?

The Derby, itself, was a fun evening.  The boys were pretty excited about their cars and the race. A few of the dads were even more excited.  Wingnut Jr.'s car won all but one of his round's heats; much to our amazement.  It went on to come in 5th overall.  Not too shabby for a last minute build.  

Wingnut Jr. with The Green Dragon.  I love a little guy in uniform.

These photos are pretty grainy. A warehouse is not the best place for a photo shoot, but you should get an idea for how much fun this event was.  This blur of racing cars has The Green Dragon in the lead.

A shot of one of The Green Dragon's wins.  Its fastest time was just under 4 seconds.

I just loved the expression on these boys' faces.

Lil' Lamb discovered a mini racing ramp and spent his time setting up match box cars and racing them.  I have a pretty good idea what might make a good Christmas gift for this little guy.